From a very young age King David had some very basic truths figured out. You have to kill the attacking lion before you feed the sheep. You have to feed the sheep before you play the harp. And, of course, you will never play the harp well if you donít practice. Simple truth.

In todayís hectic world it would be nice to have all of our decisions be that simple. It would be nice to know in every situation what really matters the most so we could do the more important things first... just like David did.

Age (a thing I am gathering far faster than wealth) has taught me that we all make decisions in EXACTLY the same way King David did. We just donít usually know what it is that we are doing.

Davidís first Psalm says a lot about this aspect of life. In Psalm 1: 1 David declares:

Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. (KJV)

That passage lists three things that we all do whether we realize it or not. We all listen to the councel of others, whether it is Godly council or UNgodly, we listen. And after we listen we either believe what we have been told... or we donít. We take a stand one way or the other. And then we tend to judge or ridicule others based on what WE have chosen to believe.

I have listened to a lot of advice in my day and the most intelligent advice I ever received was ďDonít believe everything you hear.Ē If my first grade teacher had lifted a red crayon up and told the class it was blue, we would still be calling apples blue instead of red today. We learn what we are taught so we can only take a stand on what we believe has been taught correctly. We just need to stand for the things that really matter most.

So, what really matters? What things in life should we be willing to take a stand to defend? Pro-Life? Gun Control? Prayer in Schools? These are all important issues but how do we decide which issue, if any, is the MOST important? The answer, my friend, is really simple. Take a stand for what YOU believe. If you have formed your belief based on Godly council then you will be blessed in the stand you take. There is no ďmore importantĒ issues. Everything we face in life is important. Donít let anyone judge you if you donít appear strong in regard to this issue or that. Those issues will be defended sufficiently enough by those who feel strongly enough about them.

The bottom line, for me anyway, is not so much the issue as it is the belief I hold concerning that issue. The question to answer is ďWhat do I believe?Ē If I can identify what my belief is, then I will have some measure with which to decide how strongly I need to take a stand.

It is a lot like frying bacon in a skillet. If you like it crisp then you will make sure you leave it in the pan longer. If you donít like crisp bacon then you would take a stand and remove it from the pan early. The key is that you already KNOW how you like your bacon.

That is what REALLY matters the most... what do you believe? Whatever you truly believe is what you will and SHOULD take a stand for. If you belief is based on Godly truth then you have Godís assurance that you stand will lead to blessings in your life.

The real trick is learning to recognize when you are receiving Godly council. After all, in todayís world Godly isnít the norm.

Iíll make MY stand on that statement. Any issue that goes against Godís Word is ungodly council.